Thread: Rifle Help

Any ideas why my .303 British Enfield bolt action is not holding a pattern?

Here is the info:
Last year tried sighting it in and it failed miserably. I was sighting in at 50 yards on a shooting bench on a sled. Adjusting the crosshairs on my Nikon scope did not correlate to getting closer to the bullseye. Once I kept the clip in the rifle, it got better, but still no really recognizable pattern.
Got frustrated, thought, "maybe it is the operator." Grabbed my 30-06 and was putting bullet holes touching each other...

So, in order to figure it out, had my Brother-in-law switch the scopes on my two rifles (he has the tools to do it properly-I do not).

This time at the range, same system: 50 yards, little wind, bench and sled. 30-06 is hitting within 4 MOA right where is should.
.303 responded to scope adjustments, but no discernable pattern within 6 inches of the bullseye (I believe that makes it 12 MOA).
The barrel is free floating.
The only idea I have yet to try is switching ammo.
Any other ideas?

Originally Posted by coachschaller

Any ideas why my .303 British Enfield bolt action is not holding a pattern?

Here is the info:
Last year tried sighting it in and it failed miserably. I was sighting in at 50 yards on a shooting bench on a sled. Adjusting the crosshairs on my Nikon scope did not correlate to getting closer to the bullseye. Once I kept the clip in the rifle, it got better, but still no really recognizable pattern.
Got frustrated, thought, "maybe it is the operator." Grabbed my 30-06 and was putting bullet holes touching each other...

So, in order to figure it out, had my Brother-in-law switch the scopes on my two rifles (he has the tools to do it properly-I do not).

This time at the range, same system: 50 yards, little wind, bench and sled. 30-06 is hitting within 4 MOA right where is should.
.303 responded to scope adjustments, but no discernable pattern within 6 inches of the bullseye (I believe that makes it 12 MOA).
The barrel is free floating.
The only idea I have yet to try is switching ammo.
Any other ideas?

Has it been like that since the first time you fired it? Barrel might be shot out. Is this mil surplus? What does the muzzle look like? Do you like what you see when you look down the bore? Is there any fouling or erosion? Ammo can effect accuracy but not as much as you are seeing. You may have to relegate that piece to a non shooting display. Your local gunsmith could tell you a lot more than what I can guess from long distance.

It has been able to get sighted in before. Sometimes it took several rounds, but I have shot a few deer with it. I looked down the barrel and still saw some rifling, but I wasn't looking for flaws at that point. Not sure about the provenance of the rifle. It was a gift from an uncle a couple decades back and I know he had it for a few decades before that. It might become a display piece, but I want to make sure before relegating it to display/home defense. The Uncle is still alive but is getting worse with old age crankiness.

I am open to hearing about what I should be looking for in the muzzle/barrel. It is another learning experience!

I would clean the barrel with like Butches Bore shine and inspect the rifling and also look at the crown for possible damage

Just read up on copper fouling and cleaning it out. I do not think that thorough of a cleaning has ever been done on the rifle...

May sound stupid but. Any cracks in stock? Any loose screws. Is scope tight? Is there a dollar bill space between barrel and stock? If not stock may be too tight on barrel and as barrel heats up it changes point of aim. Remove the bolt and place on sandbags and sight in target thru barrel. Now look thru scope, are they the same? Finally are your crosshairs broken. I had that happen on a shotgun. It was dead on. Then every shot was different. Under close inspection crosshairs broke in two places.

Fully disassemble, clean and properly reassemble the rifle. I don't know how many rifles I have fixed by doing that. Old and inaccurate rifles are almost always dirty, but often times I will find loose or missing hardware as well. Then there are the extremes where a guy in the past thought he could make it "better" and he buggered up the inside of the stock so that the action could never bed properly. Get a torque wrench and look up the specs for the mounting hardware. Also, make sure you reassemble it so that action to wood fit is correct. It could be a number of issues adding up.

The last time you fired it, did you use the same ammo?
Was the rifle cleaned properly immediately after the last firing? And how did it shoot then.

Was the rifle free floated or is it factory free floated?

Assuming the barrel is good, stock and scope tight, it is probably the free floating. Accurized 303’s and factory sniper models generally, are/were not free floated

Additionally, depending on when the rifle was made, during the war clear properly dried wood was in short supply, inferior wood used to get rifles out the door.


Look at the barrel, stock for shrinkage & tightness, switch ammo and check free floating.

4 MOA at 50yards is not great for a rifle. I have handguns that will hold an inch at 50, handheld, all day long.


“Just read up on copper fouling and cleaning it out. I do not think that thorough of a cleaning has ever been done on the rifle” ...

That’s too bad, surplus ammo is/was corrosive.

Originally Posted by coachschaller

It has been able to get sighted in before. Sometimes it took several rounds, but I have shot a few deer with it. I looked down the barrel and still saw some rifling, but I wasn't looking for flaws at that point. Not sure about the provenance of the rifle. It was a gift from an uncle a couple decades back and I know he had it for a few decades before that. It might become a display piece, but I want to make sure before relegating it to display/home defense. The Uncle is still alive but is getting worse with old age crankiness.

I am open to hearing about what I should be looking for in the muzzle/barrel. It is another learning experience!

At the muzzle, look for dings, cracks, chips, corrosion, etc. It could well be that you need to have the barrel crowned and prices for that are all over the chart, could be pretty reasonable, though, and less cost than the rifle is worth. The damage or wear would likely be visually noticeable to give you the accuracy issues that you have. I am voting for bore erosion or fouling. But the bedding of the action is somewhat critical, too and that could be the issue. You switched scopes so that's not the problem but that doesn't mean that maybe your scope mounting isn't at fault somehow.Try shooting through the iron sights and see what you get.

Give that bore a super good cleaning and punch a few more holes in the paper and see what you get. If it still won't shoot worth a darn, take it to a gunsmith and let him look it over. Cost should be minimal to just look it over and mike the barrel. Be aware that you will probably have to fill out BATF form number whatever-I-forgot to get your rifle back so if you have felonies, etc maybe skip the gunsmith.

Originally Posted by bouschie

May sound stupid but. Any cracks in stock? Any loose screws. Is scope tight? Is there a dollar bill space between barrel and stock? If not stock may be too tight on barrel and as barrel heats up it changes point of aim. Remove the bolt and place on sandbags and sight in target thru barrel. Now look thru scope, are they the same? Finally are your crosshairs broken. I had that happen on a shotgun. It was dead on. Then every shot was different. Under close inspection crosshairs broke in two places.

All feedback is helpful!!!
A new stock was put on by a gunsmith 20 some years ago - the original was too short for me
Checked the scope and no obvious looseness or overtightness. Plus, just switched it from another rifle that is shooting fine.
I did and can put the dollar bill between the stock and barrel.
I did remove the bolt and sighted through the barrel - it worked better than the bore sighter!